Improvement in the construction of ships



A. 1. BELL.

Ganstruction of Ships. No 148,655 Patented March17f1874.

IMP/loffl-UTHOGMP/l/O Call. X MSEOIWE'S macsss) Nrrnn STATES A. JOHNBELL, OF ASHLAND, KENTUCKY.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE CGNSTRUCTION 0F SHIPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 148,655, dated March17, 1874; application filed January 96, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, A. JOHN BELL, of Ash= land, in the county of Boydand State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Ships and Vessels; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The object of my invention is to furnish a safe and reliable means forsaving life in case of shipwreck by collision or other accidents; and tothis end the nature of my invention consists in providing a vessel witha-detachable upper deck,with suitable bulwarks around it, which shall beeasily detached and float upon the water when the hull of the vesselsinks, or is otherwise destroyed. It also consists in forming thegreater portion of the lower deck or decks of a vessel having more thanone deck of one double air-tight piece that can be launched and floatupon the water, forming a life-raft. My invention further consists in aclamp for uniting the sections of the masts above the upper deck, sothat the portions of the masts above the same can be easily and quicklydetached firom the part remaining in the hull, and thus allow the upperdeck to be detached and float off when the hull sinks, all ashereinafter more fully set forth.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my inventionappertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe itsconstruction and operation, referring to the annexed drawing, whichforms a part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is alongitudinal vertical section of a two-deck vessel embodying myinvention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the hull after the upper deck andmain part of the lower deck are removed. Fig. 3 is a plan view, part insec-' tion, of the detachable part of the lower deck. A represents thehull of a vessel, built in any of the known and usual waysg'and providedwith suitable bulk-heads,B B, for sup? porting the lower deck. The lowerdeck is made in three parts, 0, D, and E, the part 0 at the bow and thepart E at the stern being built in with and permanently attached to thehull, while the main or central part D is made separate, in the form ofa double air-tight casing, which rests upon the bulk-heads B B, andfills the space between the parts 0 and E, and also braces the sides ofthe hull. G rep resents the upper deck,provided with suitable bulwarks,H, entirely around it. This deck two or more sections,the lower sectionI being inserted in a socket, a, in the bottom of the hold of thevessel, and extends up through aperturesb b in the decks, said aperturesbeing of larger diameter than the mast, so that there will be noobstruction for the decks to pass over the upper end of said section.The next section I of the mast is secured on top of the lower section Iby means of clamp formed of two semi-tubular jaws,J J, connectedtogether by means of a screw, d, in the center. In the adjoining ends ofthe two sections I I are grooves, made to fit over the screw (1, for thepurpose of allowing the upper section to rest firmly upon the lower.

In case of shipwreck, by collision or otherwise, the upper portion ofthe mast is detached from the lower section I by loosening the clamp J,for, otherwise, when the hull sinks, the spars and rigging wouldinevitably drag the deck down also but by loosening the clamp, the upperpart I of the mast may be thrown down to either side, and afterward therigging cut loose at leisure. The fastenings of the upper deck Gr arethen loosened or opened, and the deck by suitable means detached fromthe hull, so that when the hull sinks the deckwill float upon the water,carrying the-passengers and crew with it, and thus 'saving their lives.It must, of course, be understood that the joint between the hull andthe upper deck should, in all cases, be above the water-line when thevesselis loaded; andthis joint shouldbe packed water-tight to preventthe ingress of water into the interior of the vessel. The part D of thelower deck, being air-tight, as above 2 mast- 5 described, will alsofloat upon the water and form a life-raft for the saving of any personswho may be between the decks at the time of the sinking of the hull. i

This invention is applicable to all steamers and sailing-"essels, bothon the ocean as well as on inland lakes and rivers. Suitable rules andregulations for the manipulation of the various parts should beconspicuously posted in different parts of the vessel, so that all mayknow beforehand what is to be done in case of shipwreck. The advantageof thisinvention lies in the almost absolute certainty of saving thelives of all on board the vessel, by having such a large part thereofprevented from sinking when the hull goes down.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. A ship or vessel having itslower deck made in three parts, 0 D E, the middle one resting upon thebulk-heads B B B, bracing the sides of the hullA, and made buoyant andremovable, as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination of the sectional mast I I, clamp J J, andconnecting-screw d, all constructed substantially as and for the pur- A.JOHN BELL.

poses herein set forth.

